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Navaratri 2009 - Days 1 and 2

The first day of navaratri was even more hectic than I had thought it would be. The day began with my trying to complete the arrangement of the Kolu, but wasn’t able to, since I had to leave at mid-afternoon for the NCPA, where we attended a symphony orchestra concert, the highlight of which was a performance by their students, many of them about Samhith’s age!

Having gone all the way to Nariman point, Samhith couldn’t be induced to return without walking for a while along Marine drive, him wanting to stand and stare, me hurrying him along…..

Sunset on Marine Drive...

A fishing boat...

The streets are alight - with the traffic as well as decorations....

The Devi arrives...

We rounded off the day by attending a wedding reception (Thank God for that, at least I didn’t have to cook!!), and visiting the Chedda Nagar Subramania Samaj Temple…..

As I mentioned in my earlier post, the temple has an interesting decoration everyday, and the first one this year was Kubera Shiva and his consort, Hemavathi…I was curious about this form of the lord, and on enquiry, and aided with a bit of research on the net, was able to learn that Kubera performed austerities which earned him the favour of Shiva, who gave him a status as one of his dearest ones. Kubera Shiva is that aspect of Shiva, where Kubera co-exists with Shiva. The importance of the Devi in this form is that Kubera first gained the blessings of the Devi, praying to her on the Himalayas. As daughter of Himavat, one of her names is Hemavathi.

The second day was no less hectic, but I managed to get my kolu completely ready by evening, when my mom, uncle and sister came to take a look. Again, the day ended with our visit to the temple, where the decoration was Shiva as Kirata Moorthy – the hunter. There are many instances of Shiva appearing in the form of a hunter, the most popular story being that of Arjuna, when Shiva fights with him, trying to gauge his strength and his ability to handle the Pasupatha weapon, for which he has been performing austerities.